While So-hyung was busy monitoring the security feeds, a groggy voice drifted out from the restroom: "Where am i...?"
Quickly locking the CCTV loop to prevent anyone from noticing the scuffle inside, the young man packed up his gear, slipped seamlessly out of the surveillance room, and sent a voice message to Rose.
"Rose! You've got ten minutes before the camera system automatically resets!"
Hearing the message chime in his mind, the android snapped his katana into a ready stance with a sharp
Shing!
"That's more than enough time for me," Rose murmured.
Across the room, the two bodyguard androids cracked their necks in unison and locked their weapon systems onto their target. Rose instantly hurled one of his swords, pinning the first armed machine's wrist directly against the reinforced glass wall. The impact shattered its built-in pistol into a shower of plastic and metal shards.
"Destroy the fucking thing!" Xu Wen commanded.
The remaining android unleashed a relentless barrage, emptying its entire magazine. Rose scooped up the heavy conference table to use as a shield against the deadly hail of lead, then channeled all his hydraulic strength into a brutal shove, sending the table crashing straight into Xu Wen and the pinned android.
A fresh magazine slammed home with a metallic click, but it was far too slow against Rose's reflexes. With a swift wrench, Rose snapped the armed machine's arm clean off at the elbow, deploying the concealed blade from his left hand for a lunging thrust. At that exact moment, the pinned android violently yanked Rose's katana free from the glass and lunged forward, driving the blade straight through Rose's midsection.
Rose didn't even flinch. Instead, he spun on his heel, using the sword impaled through his own torso to slash back, driving it deep into the first machine's thigh before using his free hand to twist the blade and sever its leg entirely, leaving the weapon still embedded in his own stomach.
"Even if I have to gut myself a thousand times, it's no problem at all," Rose said coldly, yanking the katana out from his abdomen.
Meanwhile, amidst the roaring concert crowd, Yoona's phone buzzed with a call from her boyfriend.
"Hello! So-hyung?" she whispered, covering one ear against the music.
"Babe! ...I'm on my way out now... huff, huff" So-hyung panted heavily on the line.
"Got it! Where are you heading? I'll come meet you," she murmured quietly.
"Exit A2. I'm halfway there already."
Hearing that, Yoona immediately nudged the shoulder of the friend beside her. "Hey guys, I need to run to the restroom real quick. My stomach's been acting up all night," she lied smoothly, slipping away into the crowd.
"Huh?! What's up with her?" Eugene muttered, standing with her hands on her hips as she watched Yoona dart through the sea of people.
Down on the main stage, Jinam and the other seven members of D\8/ activated their in-ear mics simultaneously. Standing in a straight line, spaced precisely one step apart, the eight young men braced themselves as a heavy, earth-shaking bassline reverberated through the turf.
The silver-haired vocalist opened the verse with a deep, haunting hum from his throat:
♫ Once upon a time, I was a gunman without a heart... ♫ ♫ Pulling the trigger, taking lives more times than I can count. ♫
Swish! Rose snatched the samurai sword he had previously driven into the glass table, dual-wielding it alongside his primary Hitodama blade. The two enemy androids charged, their wrist-blades flashing furiously. Crossing his blades in an X-shape, Rose cleanly swept the legs out from under the first machine.
Out on the catwalk, Xu Wen scrambled toward the control gondola, only to find a sheer drop waiting for him—the gondola was parked across the span on a separate cable, and Namgi was the only one operating it.
"Try not to fall," Rose called out coolly from the shadows.
♫ That person stayed right by my side all along... ♫ ♫ She gave me happiness... ♫ ♫ A warmth I had never known before. ♫
Rose was suddenly grabbed by the throat as one of the machines shifted its attack vector, slamming him hard onto the glass table and sending a spiderweb of cracks rippling across the surface. The legless android dragged itself up onto the tabletop using its arms, crawling toward Rose with terrifying speed.
Sensing the danger, Rose hooked the samurai sword with his foot and spun into a fluid, breakdance-like barrel roll. The razor-sharp edge swept across both androids' faces and drove straight through the torso of the legless machine. However, the remaining android caught Rose off guard, tackling him hard against the glass with a deafening crash!
♫ She held back the muzzle of my gun so it wouldn't fire... ♫ ♫ Swallowing every last sin hidden deep within my heart. ♫
On the stage below, Jinam glanced back and caught the female producer giving him a thumbs-up. The young man nodded, steeling himself as he stepped forward for the upcoming verse. As he reached the front of the stage, plumes of deep red and pink smoke billowed up from beneath the floorboards.
♫ Everything vanished because of you... ♫ ♫ Who is it that lets me stand right here today? ♫ ♫ That day you stabbed me in the back, do you remember? ♫
An enemy blade slashed across Rose's neck, but the android refused to stop fighting. Summoning every ounce of his remaining power, he brought his katana down with crushing force, snapping the enemy's wrist-blade in two. With a final, decisive strike, Rose drove his blade straight into the machine's temple, frying its core systems instantly.
Realizing he was completely cornered, Xu Wen scrambled up onto a chair and clawed his way toward the ceiling hatch of the cubic room. No matter how desperately he screamed for help, his voice was utterly swallowed up by his adopted son's final song echoing from below:
♫ Every single lie built a heart as red and volatile as crude oil... ♫ ♫ And you, my dear... you were the one who struck the match. ♫
The legless, half-destroyed assassin machine lunged forward, clawing at Rose's leg as he climbed up in pursuit of Xu Wen. With a fluid motion, Rose drove his katana straight through the creature's body, the sharp tip bursting out through the ceiling plating. With a sharp twist of the blade, he severed its internal power core in one clean stroke, his cold gaze never leaving Xu Wen for a single second.
The portly man stood panting heavily, a desperate, warped grin spreading across his face as he watched Rose's battered frame pull itself up onto the rooftop. Rose flicked his blade, sending dark droplets of oil flying, before reaching up and ripping a jagged shard of glass out of his own eye socket.
♫ My hopes have crumbled, leaving me almost entirely alone. ♫ ♫ I ask myself why I even have a heart, just to endure this agony. ♫
Rose sheathed the Hitodama blade back along his spine. "Eyes for an eyes."
A blinding concert spotlight cut through the night sky, casting a long shadow behind him as a freezing wind whipped their uniforms into a frenzy. Xu Wen clenched his fists tight, staring him down as they stood out on the open-air square platform suspended high above the ground.
♫ What could possibly take my hand and pull me back up? ♫ ♫ I whispered into the dark every single night for a light, and a miracle was born to me. ♫
Down below, Yoona stumbled and fell hard against the pavement, her chest heaving with overwhelming anxiety. Meanwhile, So-hyung sprinted past the security detail, desperate to reach her safely. He slammed through doors, desperately hunting for Exit A2 of the stadium. Suddenly, right around the corner, he spotted the head of security and sharply veered down an alternate corridor.
I won't let you down this time, Yoona, the young man repeated to himself, knowing this was his moment to finally prove his worth.
♫ Pain has forged me into strength. ♫ ♫ That light has given me the will to live and a soul to carry on. ♫
Roaring with blind rage, Xu Wen threw a wild punch straight at Rose. Noting the portly man's sluggish reflexes and utter lack of agility, Rose easily sidestepped and ducked out of the way of every clumsy swing. The two men locked eyes, sharing the silent, heavy gaze of a final showdown between men.
"What is any of this going to get you in the end?" Xu Wen panted, tearing off his outer jacket and ripping away his necktie to reveal a sprawling dragon tattoo across his chest, displaying it to Rose for the very first time. "Why hold onto this grudge against me?"
Hearing the question, Rose nodded slowly and tore the right sleeve right off his own uniform.
He raised his right wrist, flashing the exact same dragon mark to Xu Wen. "I just want to take back... everything that belongs to you."
Before he could finish, the portly man lunged forward with a dirty sucker punch, driving his shoulder hard into Rose's chest and tackling him mercilessly to the ground. Xu Wen brought his heavy boot down, stomping savagely over the android's chest plates, then cocked back a thick fist, preparing to shatter Rose's already cracked face into pieces.
"A piece-of-junk toy like you isn't worth a damn thing anymore!" Xu Wen roared, bringing his fist down with lethal force.
♫ Please give my heart back~~~~~ once more~!~~!~~!~ ♫
Grab!
Channeling every last drop of his fading emergency power, Rose caught Xu Wen's descending fist in his left palm, even as his core systems flickered on the verge of total shutdown. It was the exact moment the final movement of the song reached its climactic crescendo below.
"Impossible! How the hell do you still have power left?!" Xu Wen gasped in sheer disbelief.
"Because this isn't my hand anymore... It's yours."
The moment the words left his mouth, Rose delivered a devastating right hook straight to the man's jaw, sending teeth flying into the open air. Xu Wen's vision swam instantly from the sheer concussive force. Without missing a beat, Rose followed through with a crushing left punch—ensuring that his left hand wouldn't have to bear the sin of spilling human blood.
"Everything I've built, everything I've done is beyond your tiny comprehension! Humanity is forging a sustainable future! Trading the lives of a single family for the future of ten billion people, don't you think that fucking worth it?!"
Thud! Xu Wen slammed his foot down and charged forward like a bull. The two nemesis rushed at each other one last time, but this time, Rose read his opponent's momentum with absolute, flawless precision. Dropping low into a swift squat, Rose caught the portly man around the waist, using Xu Wen's own forward momentum to amplify the throw.
With a clean heave, Xu Wen flipped head over heels, vaulting over Rose's back before tumbling straight over the edge toward the open drop of the cubic platform's outer rim.
Aaaaaah~~~~~~~~
The final farewell song drew to a breathtaking close. So-hyung bolted out from the stadium corridors, bursting into the open air to find Yoona waiting for him just a short distance away.
"Babe!!" the young lady cried out, her voice trembling.
"Yoona!" The two rushed into each other's arms, holding each other tight. "I didn't let you down this time."
"No~ Just coming back to me safely is more than enough," Yoona choked out, unable to hold back her tears any longer.
Just as the artists began stepping down from the stage, a sudden digital override hijacked the giant holographic screens overhead, plunging the entire crowd into a state of stunned confusion.
"It's starting!" Yoona exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she realized what was coming. "Hurry, babe, or we'll miss the highlight of the show!"
She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and dragged him right back toward the stadium lawn. Jinam and the rest of D\8/ stood frozen, staring up at the massive projection of a heroic warrior being subdued by a fierce dragon's breath of fire.
"Millions of lives are left to suffer if we refuse to fight. Right now, the blood-red dragon tramples beneath its feet the very heart of our people..."
Yoona recognized the low, dubbed audio file instantly, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks as she remembered who was hiding behind the sound design.
"Did someone just hack into the D\8/ concert?!" murmurs rippled anxiously through the crowd.
On the screen, the brave warrior's heart was scorched to ash. Bound by heavy ropes, he was reduced to a mere puppet manipulated by the red dragon. Suddenly, a thick plume of crimson smoke swept across the display, transforming the dragon into the familiar, respected face of a global tycoon.
"That's... that's his father!" gasps echoed through the audience. Jinam didn't even try to hide it, accepting what the world was finally seeing with unflinching resolve.
"Jinam, isn't that your old man?!" his bandmates whispered, turning wide-eyed looks toward the red-haired singer.
The holographic display shifted, playing a black-and-white, heavily censored version of the brutal footage Rose had once witnessed. The video showed a young doctor being subjected to horrific, forced physical restructuring, while Xu Wen simply stood watch behind a glass partition, completely indifferent.
"I'll kill you, Eva! I'll kill every last one of you who did this to me, and everyone who stands with him! Aaaah~~~~~~~~!"
Just as the mad doctor raised a scalpel over the victim's chest, the clip abruptly cut to black.
"You are the only one... who knows the absolute truth. Tell them everything, Da Li Hong." Hearing her own deep-pitched, synthesized voice echo through the speakers, Yoona buried her face in her boyfriend's shoulder, groaning in sheer embarrassment. "Ugh~~~~ Whose voice even is that~?!"
"...It's true... Every last word of it," Jinam said, his voice steady as he switched on his in-ear mic. Tens of thousands of cameras instantly pivoted to zoom in on the stage.
"Everyone... there is a truth I need to share with you," the red-haired young man declared, looking out across a sea of bewildered fans.
"I... was raised from birth by a deeply disturbed man. I was subjected to psychological abuse by my adoptive father. My mother was left permanently disabled..." Tears streamed down his face as he ripped open the dark, hidden secrets of his adoptive family.
High above the stadium, Rose stood at the edge of the cube's open platform, looking down at the portly man desperately clinging to the metal rim for his life. The android crouched down to meet his gaze.
"A single man can never carry the entire world on his shoulders," Rose said quietly, picking up a length of steel cable from the floor and wrapping it securely around his wrist.
"Even if you don't kill me, I'll walk away scot-free anyway. Prisons can't hold people like me. The difference between you and me, Rose... is that I see the bigger picture! Besides, both of us are just as selfish at heart, and you'll never truly escape them. There are still millions of people out there who see the value. Heh... don't forget whose property you really were..."
Xu Wen's fingers finally slipped, unable to fight the merciless pull of gravity. In a flash, Rose lunged forward, extending his right arm to catch the falling man by the wrist, anchoring him securely just as Namgi's control gondola slid smoothly into position against the edge of the platform.
"Now, i know who i really am.... and who i belong to."
With a cold, resolute look, Rose snapped his own right wrist, shattering the blood dragon tattoo into pieces. The sudden move caused Xu Wen, who was still desperately clutching his arm, to slip and nearly plunge into the stadium below.
Quickly firing a tether cable, Rose wrapped it securely around the portly man's torso to break his fall, gently lowering him down until his feet touched the main stage safely.
With his mission complete, Rose fell backward onto the roof of the control gondola as Namgi pulled the emergency lever to reel him in. As the gondola carried him away, the android slipped into a supine position, his internal energy dropping to a critical 2%.
"Yoon Eun Hwa... Thank you for everything," Rose whispered his final words as he looked up at the moon one last time.
Click.
His neon-green eyes flickered and faded into total darkness as his system finally shut down.
"We've got him!" Namgi shouted, throwing the mechanical brake.
Down below, an eerie silence had fallen over the stadium. Jinam stood face-to-face with his adoptive father, who lay gasping for air on the stage floor.
"Is it true? Did you cripple my mother, murder the people closest to me, and run our business like a bloody colonial empire... all for one single reason?"
Jinam turned away from the man and looked out across the tens of thousands of fans filling the arena.
"Just so you could mold me into seeing the world the exact way you do? If this footage hadn't been leaked, everyone here would still think this man was a benevolent philanthropist. But beneath his mask, he's just a selfish, lying fraud! You can call me selfish too, if you want. Yes, I was! But I never trampled on innocent lives or used other people as stepping stones to climb higher! Who do you think is responsible for millions losing their jobs? Why are robots replacing hardworking people all across Asia?!"
Pointing an accusatory finger down at his adoptive father, Jinam's voice shook with righteous fury.
"This man holds the answers. And TAOS, the company he always wanted me to take over..." The young man looked down at the fallen mogul with profound pity. "I wouldn't touch a single brick of it, even if my life depended on it. Because an empire built on human blood and suffering is utterly sickening. See you in court... Mr. CEO."
Jinam dropped his microphone onto the stage floor in front of tens of thousands of witnesses.
Suddenly, a phalanx of men in black rushed onto the stage, flashing government badges right in front of the fallen tycoon.
"Kevin Xu Wen! We have intercepted your illicit underground transactions and corporate crimes. Put your hands behind your back!"
Yoona stared in utter shock from the crowd. "Wait... the authorities? There was someone else waiting to back us up?"
Kneeling on the stage, Xu Wen spat a mouthful of blood onto the floorboards. "Tch! Interpol agents, huh? Heh... they really know how to put on a show."
Before he could utter another word, the operatives forced him face-down onto the stage and slapped cuffs on him, dragging him away from the concert grounds in disgrace.
"Boo~! Scumbag! Your true monster face is finally out in the open!"
People who had once been locked out of the industry began raining jeers down upon him, joined by legions of fans who shouted curses at his retreating figure. "Get out of here!"
"Aaaaah~~~~ Marry me, Cho Jinam! You are so insanely cool and brilliant!" Sophia swooped dramatically, feeling faint, prompting her friends—who were still recovering from the shock—to join in and cheer him on.
At long last, the entire stadium swelled with a deafening wave of applause. The fans cheered with tear-filled eyes, letting Jinam know they would stand by his honest artistry no matter what the future held.
After the dust settled, Yoona and So-hyung frantically tried to get in touch with Rose and Namgi.
"Pick up, pick up..."
Before the phone could ring out, a heavy thud echoed from outside the van as Namgi tossed a cloak-covered figure into the back seat. "Make some room, kids~ My friend had a little too much to drink!"
Namgi hoisted Rose's limp body into the van, laying him down carefully across the back row.
"Rosé!" Seeing her friend lying like a broken doll in the back, Yoona rushed over, her face draining of color. "His right arm is completely gone... So-hyung, get us home, now!"
Without wasting a second, So-hyung slammed his foot on the accelerator. The van peeled out of the parking lot and sped through the night toward their hideout.
Back inside the room, So-hyung carefully propped Rose's body up and plugged a heavy data cable into the back of his neck. Yoona pressed her hands together in a silent prayer as she hit the manual override switch to feed emergency power into his battered frame.
So-hyung checked the diagnostic screen on his laptop, only to find that Rose's internal power bank was completely fried.
"Damn it! The power cell is shot... and his memory core's been wiped," So-hyung muttered, dragging a hand over his face in despair. "Yoona..."
He turned to look at his girlfriend, his expression heavy with dread.
"What is it? What's wrong?!"
"He initiated a core wipe right before he shut down..."
"No..." Yoona pressed her palms against the android's cold face.
Left with no other options, So-hyung reached back toward the charging console. "He did this for a reason, right?" her boyfriend asked gently. "You have to make the call, Yoona."
Wiping the tears streaming down her cheeks, Yoona whispered her final decree.
"Even if you don't have your old memories left... I know your soul is still in there."
She cast a sideways glance toward So-hyung, giving him a silent nod. "Bring my little brother back to me."
Hearing her final word, So-hyung slammed his fist down onto the manual charge button one last time.
Thump.
And with that, all sound in the room faded into silence.